There's a fantastic guide on GameFAQS for how to grab all the missables AND get Excalibur II in time. I've done it twice, and I can attest to its efficacy.

Also having Excalibur II means you can show off to all of your friends what an FFIX boss you are.

If my time wasn't so tight, I'd love to take that challenge (wait, that's silly, obviously going for a speed run implies it'll be quick so nothingshouldreallystopmeindoingthat....). But then I'd miss the charm of the storyline. I'm so sad ATE's haven't come back, they really fleshed out the game better than a lot of the others in the series and didn't need voice acting to do it. You compared it to Tales skits, but these one showed a whole scene (well; there's only 75 ATEs and they unfortunately end abrubtly after the last town in the game a credit to Tales where they do between 200-400 per title...I'm just wondering which style is better though).

I think I've played the opening ten hours of FF9 six or seven times. The beginning of this game is exactly what I want from my RPGs: high adventure, great characters, cool scenarios, and a sense of depth to the narrative. Unfortunately, I think the game really meanders around at times. Not going into specifics, but there are parts of the game that I can't even remember because they felt like filler, and it wouldn't be a FF if the story didn't completely fly off the rails in the last few hours (though Stephen tends to disagree with me here). It's still an awesome game, however, and even with a few disposable characters, FF9 has perhaps the most lovable cast of misfits this side of 6.

I think I've played the opening ten hours of FF9 six or seven times. The beginning of this game is exactly what I want from my RPGs: high adventure, great characters, cool scenarios, and a sense of depth to the narrative. Unfortunately, I think the game really meanders around at times. Not going into specifics, but there are parts of the game that I can't even remember because they felt like filler, and it wouldn't be a FF if the story didn't completely fly off the rails in the last few hours (though Stephen tends to disagree with me here). It's still an awesome game, however, and even with a few disposable characters, FF9 has perhaps the most lovable cast of misfits this side of 6.

I've come to expect JRPG's to get completely ridiculous at the end. I wonder why it consistently happens. Some sort of syndrome where the designer thinks they need to "Go Big or Go Home". It's kind of annoying. Especially after a long rpg that has taken great care with its plot lines.

Logged

"This is your fault. I'm going to kill you. And all the cake is gone. You don't even care, do you?"

I think I've played the opening ten hours of FF9 six or seven times. The beginning of this game is exactly what I want from my RPGs: high adventure, great characters, cool scenarios, and a sense of depth to the narrative. Unfortunately, I think the game really meanders around at times. Not going into specifics, but there are parts of the game that I can't even remember because they felt like filler, and it wouldn't be a FF if the story didn't completely fly off the rails in the last few hours (though Stephen tends to disagree with me here). It's still an awesome game, however, and even with a few disposable characters, FF9 has perhaps the most lovable cast of misfits this side of 6.

I've come to expect JRPG's to get completely ridiculous at the end. I wonder why it consistently happens. Some sort of syndrome where the designer thinks they need to "Go Big or Go Home". It's kind of annoying. Especially after a long rpg that has taken great care with its plot lines.

Powercreep mostly. You aren't some world savoir, walking demi-fiend/god, or some other kind of legendary hero if the only thing you fight are bandits or the occasional stray woodland creature.

You can abuse the hell out of the combat system on this game with all the different variants of skills to be . I beat the game with everyone dead except zidane in berserk with auto revive so I want even holding the controller. Great game though, sakaguchi really nailed the fantasy in this game